Indicator for bowling-alleys



(No Model.)

. P. BECKER. INDICATOR FOR'BOWLING ALLEYS.

No. 559,352. Patented May 5, 1896.

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK BECKER, OF NORTH PLAINFIELD, NEIV JERSEY.

INDICATOR FOR BOWLlNG-ALLEYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Iatent No. 559,352, dated May 5, 1896.

Application m April 24,1895. SerlalNo. 54=6,986. momma.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FREDERICK BECKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at North Plainfield, in the county of Somerset and State of New Jersey, have invented an Improvement in Indicators for Bowling-Allcys, of which the following is a specification.

Efforts have heretofore been made to give an indication electrically of the pins in a bowling-alley that may be knocked down by the ball; but such devices have been expensive and difficult to operate, and have required changes in the ordinary alley by which the pins were suspended instead of being set upon the floor of the alley as usual.

In my present improvement I place in the ordinary floor of the alley two insulated electrodes contiguous to each other at each place where a pin is to be set up, and upon the bottom of each pin is a metallic plate, which,

coming into contact with the electrodes, closes the circuit to an indicator near the party bowling, and the closing of the circuit brings up into position pivoted indicator-pins by the action of electromagnets and their armatures, and hence as the pins are knocked down and the circuit broken the corresponding imitation pins fall, so that the bowler can readily see which pins may be in position, and the pins are set up in the ordinary manner and close the circuits and raise up the pivoted indicator-pins.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan View illustrative of the circuits adjacent to the pins. Fig. 2 is a section of one of the pins and of the floor of the alley. Fig. 8 is an external View of the indicator, and Figs. 4: and 5 illustrate the connections between the electromagnets and the indicators.

Each of the pins A has upon its base a metallic plate 2, and in the floor and closely adjacent to each other are electrodes 3 and 4 in pairs, such electrodes being placed in the positions usually occupied by the pins, and these electrodes are to be filed off or otherwise fitted so as to be level with the floor or very slightly above the same to insure contact of such electrodes with the plates 2 on the bottom ends of the pins, and the electric-circuit Wires are arranged preferablywith a common circuit-wire 5 to the respective cross-wires 6 with which the electrodes 3 are connected,

ley, and when the pin-indicators are made to correspond in appearance to the pins themselves the indicator-pins are pivoted on shafts, so that they can be turned up vertically or down horizontally, and by connecting to each shaft a crank-arm with a link to the armature of a magnet the pin-indicator will be held up vertically when the magnet is charged and fall down horizontally when the magnet is discharged and the armature falls back or is drawn away by a spring.

I have represented the electromagnet D as provided with an armature E, with a connection 10 to the crank 11 upon the shaft 12 of the indicator-pin 13, and it is to be understood that these devices are duplicated, so that each indicator-pin is similarly fitted and actuated, and each indicator-pin is brought up into position by the electromagnet as soon as the pin A is placed in position, so that the plate 2 thereof closes the electric circuit between the pins 3 and 4, forming the electrodes in the circuit leading to the electromagnet of the corresponding pin.

Usually a switch is provided at 15 to disconnect the battery when the apparatus is not in use.

I claim as my invention- The combination with the electric circuits and connections and the electromagnets in such circuits, of indicator pins, cranked shafts supporting such indicator-pins and armature-levers connected to the cranks for raising the indicator-pins by the magnets when the circuits are closed, and springs for swinging the indicator-pins down horizontally when the circuits are broken, substantially as specified.

Signed by me this 18th day of April, 1895.

FREDERICK BECKER.

Witnesses:

WALTER WILLIAMS, HARRY O. RUNYON. 

